Deer Clan
The Deer Clan was one of the Minor Clans of Rokugan. Kyūden Shika was their ancestral seat of power. Courts of Stone, p. 39 Details Mon The Deer Clan mon was a deer's head with a black antler and a white antler. Courts of Stone, p. 80 Duty The Deer served the Empire as guardians of balance. Through divine vision, they uncovered the threads of futures yet to come, and through artful stealth, they wove or severed these threads to ensure that order was maintained. They could tie alliances between the Great Clans or unravel them as soon as any one faction became too powerful. Through subtle manipulation, the Deer Clan sought to preserve power balance, and this meant that at times, the weak had to rise and the mighty had to fall. Courts of Stone (FFG Web) The Deer Clan developed ways to observe, understand, and even use the bonds between people to protect balance within the heart, and thus within the Empire. The Deer believed that even violence had a role to play in maintaining balance. Their roles as mediators and guardians allowed them to acquire the knowledge they then wielded. For the sake of balance, the weak must rise, and the strong must fall. Courts of Stone, pp. 79-80 Shika Family The Shika family was the only family of the Deer Clan. They were known for their famed matchmakers, who forged and broke alliances between families to ensure that none became too powerful, while their speardancers protected charges whose work was vital to the empire and ushered death to those too powerful. Tread Softly (FFG Web) All of the Deer's celebrated nakōdo were shugenja. Courts of Stone, p. 6 Arbiters of Disputes The Deer Clan offered other clans their expertise as arbiters of disputes. The Shika insight into relationship dynamics made them excellent at wringing compromise out of conflict, a service they offered at Kyūden Shika in return for payment in favors, gold, and the security of knowing that a major power whose indiscretions they had fathomed would think twice before moving against them. The clan kept meticulous records of what went on in these sessions, and distributed among the Deer Clan's other holdings, with instructions that they be burned or otherwise destroyed in the event of an attack. Courts of Stone, p. 45 Customs The Deer not only sought to accept imperfections, but believed that weaknesses are a vital part of human nature. Vulnerabilities balanced by strengths created a healthy person with realistic expectations, so only that which was less perfect could be more than perfect. Their attitude toward imperfection had gained the Deer a reputation for being quaint and even lax. Courts of Stone, p. 83 History Origins The Deer Clan drew its origin fron a love marriage. In the fifth century, in defiance of the paths set before them by their families and clans, the healer Asahina Takuya and the warrior Daidoji Kokoro married. They left their clan as rōnin, hounded by pursuers seeking the reward placed upon them by their families. They eventually moved to the Aokami Forest, where Musubi, the Fortune of bonds, revealed themself to them in full. As the Fortune had preserved the couple, they would preserve the people of the Empire—subtly, and ever in the name of balance. Quietly, they took others into their fold. Takuya taught the Musubu technique, while Kokoro trained warriors to protect the fledgling group. Kokoro was the first of the Speardancers, while Takuya began the tradition of the Matchmakers, who were shugenja as well. Growing Protected by the Speardancers, the mystics trained by Takuya in the art of Musubu ventured out into the Empire as mediators, under the care of their protectors. They felled assassins, extinguished disputes, and possessed the uncanny ability to know a person's soul, founding the role of traveling Matchmakers, facilitating not just marriages, but adoptions, business partnerships, and minor political alliances. Soon they caught the eye of the Emperor. Courts of Stone, pp. 79-82 Founding In the year 618, as the Imperial heir prepared to ascend the Throne, court astrologers foresaw a catastrophe, and they sought auguries across the Empire. A matchmaker claiming to be skilled in an unknown art arrived at the Imperial Court, and the Emperor granted an audience with his son. After the conversation, the heir began a pilgrimage to see the sunrise at the Castle of the Centipede, following a request made by the matchmaker. The journey was an uneventful one, aside from a few new friends made along the road by the heir. Three years later, the new Emperor took the Throne and the newly formed Deer Clan was granted formal ownership of the Aokami Forest under the leadership of the matchmaker, the first to carry the family name Shika. The friends the heir made along the road became pillars who supported him through the hardest days on the Throne. As remembrance of Takuya and Kokoro, an ancient spear still stood at the sacred tree of the Fortune Musubi in Kyūden Shika. Courts of Stone, pp. 80, 82 Known Schools * Shika Matchmaker (Courtier, Shugenja) * Shika Speardancer (Bushi, Shinobi) Deer Clan Champions The following were the known Champions of the Shika: See also * Deer Clan/Meta * Shika family/Meta Deer Clan Champion Deer Category:Deer Clan Families